Each year a variety of awards are presented at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, FL. According to the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association, the show’s producers, a judging committee walked the floor on the first day of the show and chose the outstanding booths from among the exhibitors. The 2015 Best of the Show booth was awarded to United Nursery in Homestead, FL, and the Most Unusual Plant Specimen Award was given to Deroose... Read more

As we begin 2015, one of the food top trends reported by the National Restaurant Federation is sustainability, and this will certainly affect the grocery aisle. So how does this make its way to the floral department? Waste reduction, sustainability and social responsibility are all terms that are considered throughout store operations and important to consumers when making purchases. Recently, Smithers-Oasis Co., makers of OASIS Floral Foam, launched a new twist... Read more

According to Dan Fisher at Fitz Design, a distributor of floral jewelry and accessories, florists can significantly increase their prom sales if they start going after it in February, as stated in a news release. He suggested that floral departments take the following steps this month. • Find out prom dates for schools in your area and who serves on the committees in charge. • Contact administrators and prom committee members at each school and ask if... Read more

Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the last decade, you know that prom is not what it used to be. Long gone are the days of the simple corsage worn to a dance held in the high school gym. Today’s teens spend months preparing for the big night, and for some, it is one of the most major events in their young lives. Are you and your store prepared to help them celebrate in style? Industry research shows that the average high school couple will spend over $1,600... Read more

For the sixth time Hortiflora Expo 2015 will be held as a biennial trade fair at the Millennium Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 25-27. The expo will serve as a platform for exhibiting national and international suppliers who want to meet Ethiopian growers and for Ethiopian growers who want to meet international floral buyers, according to a news release. Ethiopia has developed into one of the world’s leading exporters of cut flowers in the past decade, with... Read more

The Wisconsin & Upper Michigan Florists Association’s annual convention, under the banner “Fields of Green,” will be held at the Green Bay Radisson Hotel & Convention Center in Green Bay, WI, March 20-22, according to a news release. WUMFA president Diane Schulte expressed the hope that members will “use this opportunity to build your success at home where your ‘fields of green’ flourish.” Convention design presenters include Loann Burke, Jim Kolb, Randy... Read more

The Tournament of Roses Parade is a yearly tradition that started 126 years ago as a way to showcase the beautiful weather and bountiful flowers grown in California during a time when much of the country is covered in snow. The irony of this year’s parade was that it was actually snowing in the region for the first time this winter and forecasters were predicting near freezing temperatures for the paradein Pasadena, CA.. California State Secretary of Food &... Read more

The American Floral Endowment board of trustees met in Orlando, FL, Jan. 19-20, to review strategic goals for the funding of education, research, scholarships, internships and marketing initiatives for the entire floriculture industry, including growers, wholesalers, retailers, suppliers, allied organizations and consumers. Terril A. Nell, newly elected research coordinator for the AFE, organized the University of Florida visit.     Established... Read more

Floral industry members from across the country are expected to attend the 2015 Great Lakes Floral Expo at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel/DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, MI, March 6-8, according to a news release. The three-day “Floral Fantasy” expo will feature design spectaculars, business sessions, hands-on workshops and the opportunity to network with industry professionals. New this year is the tablescape design contest “A Night of Fantasy” and the tablescapes... Read more

The DNA Green Group, a company formed by the merger of the Dummen Group and Agribio Group in 2013 headquartered in the Netherlands and a leader in advanced scientific breeding and selection techniques of flowers and plants, announced in a news release the acquisition of two additional companies. Terra Nigra, a Dutch gerbera and rose breeder and propagator with more than 40 years of experience and previously owned by the Boerlage family, joined the DNA Group in... Read more

The Association of Cut Flower Growers will host two meetings in two different parts of the country in March, according to a news release. The first will be held at the Georgia Center in Athens, GA, March 2-3 and speaker sessions include using woody ornamentals as cut flowers, postharvest handling techniques, healthy soils, optimizing productivity with planting, zinnia secrets and a wreath-making demonstration. Tours of local flower farms Woodland Gardens, 3 Porch... Read more

HPP Exhibitions, the Netherlands-based organizers of World Floral Expo 2015, are anticipating many more buyers, including bigger mass-market buyers, to attend the international flower trade show slated for March 11-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, compared to last year’s successful fair in Chicago. All segments of the buyers’ chain, from importers to retail florists, are expected to attend and the number of pre-registered buyers is higher than ever, while... Read more

The Society of American Florists’ Congressional Action Days, the industry’s annual grassroots campaign in Washington, DC, takes place March 9-10. “I have attended for many years now, and I have seen positive results that not only affect my business but have affected myself and my family, too,” Dave Self, owner at Wyld West Annuals in Loxahatchee, FL, and chair of the SAF Government Joint Council, said in a press release. Retail florists, floral designers, wholesalers,... Read more

It’s been over 40 years since our country has seen a significant generational shift in consumer wants and trends; we are talking about the 1970s here. I’m confident that many of our current floral industry leaders were worried about buying their first car or finding a date to the prom, and not about the seismic shift in trends caused by the buying habits of baby boomers. Over the next two years the millennial generation is expected to outspend the baby boomers,... Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Fort Lauderdale is known as “the Venice of America” due to its more than 300 miles of navigable inland waterways and it’s also one of the world’s largest cruise ship ports with 3.6 million people cruising out of Port Everglades each year. But for a few days in January the city is abuzz for another reason, as over 6,000 people flock to the Broward County Convention Center, here, to celebrate the tropical plant industry. For anyone who grows,... Read more

Women’s Day is March 8 and is fast approaching. What is your organization doing to benefit from this groundswell movement? Momentum has been building for the last several years and now the holiday is hitting its stride. Here are two themes on which to focus your marketing efforts. Honor. The act of honoring someone is perhaps a lost art. Women’s Day aims to bring this idea back into vogue by creating a time and place for people to honor those who have touched their... Read more

The recently published Prince & Prince Market Report (http://www.floralmarketresearch.com/market_report-5.htm) describes a surprising “wake-up call for the industry with a historical downward trend in consumer floral purchasing for Valentine’s Day.” So what do you think? I’m curious to hear your feedback on this report that florists are losing holiday market penetration to other gift choices, because I imagine it doesn’t feel that way to you during the intensity... Read more

When Floral Marketing in The Produce News asked me write an outlook for 2015 from a California flower grower’s perspective, I jumped at the opportunity. Kitayama Bros., located in Watsonville, CA, sees huge possibilities this year because we are Northern California farmers with close proximity and ties to the most technologically advanced and wealthy market in the world — the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. There are so many opportunities locally... Read more

This year the California Cut Flower Commission will celebrate 25 years of advocacy and promotion on behalf of California’s flower farmers. At the time the commission was established in 1990, George H.W. Bush was president, Operation Desert Shield was under way, “Law & Order” premiered on NBC, Walmart opened its first store in California and domestic flowers still represented the majority of flowers sold in the United States. Since then, innovation, consumer... Read more

Flower importers are faced with a situation that they have not been faced with in the past. The importers, through the Association of Floral Importers of Florida, are meeting with all the major flower airlines in order to work more closely with the importers’ major partners. The airlines are faced with more products competing for northbound space and less southbound cargo, so things have changed over the years for airline space for flowers. The expiration of the... Read more